Email Size Limits

Email Size Restrictions

Any emails 25 MB or larger, including those sent by VCU faculty and staff, are not delivered to VCU email accounts. Any emails over these size limits will not be delivered to the recipient and there is no guarantee that senders will receive non-delivery notices. Technology Services implemented a size limit for all outbound email of 25 MB on April 3, 2010, and this is also Google's size limit. This restriction is for the total email size including attachments. This restriction affects all emails including those sent to other VCU faculty and staff on the University's G Suite system as well as email to external recipients. If you attempt to send an email larger than 25 MB, you will be prompted to save the attachment to your G Suite Drive.

How much is 25 MB? 1 MB is roughly 1 million characters in an email, the same as a 500-page textbook. Typically, video, audio and graphics attachments or documents with embedded media files will cause an email to reach the 25 MB limit. If you need to share material exceeding 25 MB, use the following file sharing technologies: Documents may be created in or uploaded and then shared via Google Drive or you may use VCU TS Filelocker.

If you choose to use an external commercial service, these sites should never be used if your files contain any VCU-related confidential, personally identifiable, fiscal, personnel, student-related or other sensitive information. Also, please familiarize yourself with the company's terms of service. VCU does not guarantee service levels for external file sharing services.

As always, please contact the VCU IT Support Center with any questions at 828-2227 or via email.